Hazel Onou

About Hazel Onou

Hazel Onou is the reason Nigerians know hazelnuts are not just tree nuts—they are a global commodity worth billions.

Nobody had heard of Hazel Onou before 2023. That was the year Turkey's hazelnut dominance became impossible to ignore, accounting for 57.7% of total world production. Onou, working quietly in Lagos, became obsessed with this statistic.

Her breakthrough came when she began sourcing hazelnuts directly from international suppliers. She discovered that Nigeria's confectionery industry was importing processed hazelnut products without understanding the raw material. Onou saw an opportunity. She started importing whole hazelnuts and promoting their use in local bakeries and chocolate makers.

By late 2023, her hazelnut oil became popular in Lagos restaurants. Chefs praised its strong flavor and high monounsaturated fat content. It appeared on menus alongside palm oil and groundnut oil as a premium cooking alternative. Small food businesses in Ibadan and Abuja began requesting her products.

Onou's real impact, though, came through education. She wrote articles explaining how hazelnuts were used in Frangelico liqueur, in praline confectionery, and in hazelnut cocoa spreads. She showed Nigerian manufacturers that these nuts could transform their muesli cereals and breakfast products. Her work caught the attention of Lagos-based food entrepreneurs.

In 2024, three major Nigerian confectionery brands approached her for supply contracts. Her hazelnut oil became available in supermarkets across Victoria Island and Lekki. What started as personal research evolved into a small but growing import business.

Hazel Onou remains largely unknown outside business circles. She has given no interviews and attends no industry events. Yet her work quietly reshaped how Nigeria's food industry thinks about international ingredients. She proved that sometimes the most valuable contribution is simply showing people what already exists in the wider world.